Tropes Based on the Interaction
Of Primary and Derivative Logical Meanings
Zeugma is the use of a word in the same grammatical but different semantic relations to two adjacent words in the context. The two meanings of the word are realized in the context without the repetition of this word. It is often used in poetry and emotive prose.
E.g. Mr. Stiggings took his hat and his leave.
E.g. Dora plunged at once into privileged intimacy and into the middle of the room.
E.g. A door on the second landing opened, and a face poked out wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a very annoyed expression.
Pun is another SD based on the interaction of two well-known meanings of а word or phrase. It aims at a humorous effect and is used in jokes, riddles, etc. It has much in common with zeugma, but it differs from it in its structure. Zeugma is the realization of the verb which refers to different subjects or objects, while pun is more independent. It can, for example, be based on:
· The play upon words with the same spelling and sounding, but different meaning
E.g. «Do you serve crabs here?»
«We serve anyone! Sit down!»
E.g. Army doctor: «Do you have any physical defects?»
Inductee; «Yes, no guts.»
· The play upon homophones (sound alike, but different in spelling and meaning)
E.g. «The storm caused a whole lot of damage»
«A hole lot of what?»
· The play upon mix of phrase and their word-components
E.g. «Someone at the door?»
«Some four at the door.»
E.g. «Is somebody in the room?»
«Yes, there is some body here.»
Tropes Based on the Interaction
of Logical & Emotive Meanings
Epithet is a SD based on the interplay of logical and emotive meanings in an attributive word, phrase or even sentence used to characterize an object (both existing and imaginary). It shows the evaluative, subjective attitude of the writer/speaker to the thing described. Epithets may be classified semantically and structurally.
Semantically, epithets are divided into:
· associated (those which point to a feature which essential to the object they describe, i.e. the idea expressed by the epithet is inherent in the concept of the object)
E.g. dark forest; careful attention; fantastic terrors.
· unassociated (they are used to characterize the object by adding a feature not inherent in it).
E.g. A heart-burning smile; sullen earth; voiceless sands.
Structurally, epithets are divided into:
· Single: E.g. She smiled cuttingly at him. /she made him suffer by smiling/
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· Two-step (i.e. adverb + adjective):E.g. a pompously majestic female
· Phrase (i.e. a group of hyphenated words): E.g. a don't-you-touch-me look; a do-it-yourself attitude.
· Inverted epithets (or reversed, i.e. presented by of-phrases): E.g. a devil of a job; the shadow of a smile.
Oxymoron is a combination of two words (mostly an adiective and a noun or an adverb with an adjective) in which the meanings of the two clash, being opposite in sense.
E.g. low skyscrapers; sweet sorrow; a pleasantly ugly face.
Oxymoron helps to emphasize contradictory qualities as a unity in the described phenomenon.
E.g. She was dressed with careful carelessness.
Oxymoron can create a humorous effect:
E.g. He seemed doomed to liberty (он был обречен на свободу).
Tropes Based on the Interaction of Logical and Nominal Meanings
Antonomasia is based on the interplay of the logical and nominal meanings of the word, which helps to single out one definite object out of a whole class of similar objects. It is a trope in which a Proper name is used instead of a Common noun or vice versa; here the nominal meaning of a Proper name is suppressed by its logical meaning or the logical meaning acquires a new nominal component.
E.g. He is an Apollo. /a proper name/
E.g. I don't want just any man for a husband, it must be Mr. Right. /a common noun/
Antonomasia stresses the most characteristic feature of a person. It is also represented by ‘speaking names’, whose origin from common nouns is clearly perceived:
E.g. Mr. Snake; Inspector Blunt.
Intensification of a Certain Feature of a Thing or Phenomenon
Simile is a SD based on a deliberate comparison of two objects, belonging to two different classes. This trope is easy to recognize because of the form words, used to connect the compared objects: ‘like’, ‘as though’, ’as if’, ‘as…as’, ‘such as’, ‘seem’, etc.
Simile is used for the purpose of expressive evaluation, emotive explanation and highly individual description.
E.g. He stood immovable like a rock.
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Periphrasis is a SD based on the usage of a round-about form of expression instead of a simpler one. There are two types of periphrasis: figurative (metaphoric or metonymic) and logical (the whole phrase is synonymous with the word meant)
E.g. the cap and gown /student/; my better half /my wife/; a gentleman of the long robe /a lawyer/
Euphemism is a variety of periphrasis. It is a word or phrase used to replace an unpleasant word or expression by a conventionally more acceptable one. For instance, instead of the word ‘to die’ people prefer to say: to pass away, to expire, to be no more, to depart, to join the majority, to be gone, etc. Euphemisms aim at producing a deliberately mild effect.
Euphemisms may be divided into several groups according to their sphere of application: 1) religious, 2) moral, 3) medical, 4) parliamentary.
The life of euphemisms is short, because they very soon become closely associated with the object they represent, and give way to new words.
Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration of a feature essential to the object or phenomenon. It is characteristic of every day speech, used as a signal of roused emotions.
E.g. He had wine enough to wash an elephant.
There are words, which are used in Hyperbole oftener than others: ‘all’, ‘every’, ‘everybody’, a million’, ‘a thousand’, ‘ever’, ‘never’, etc.
E.g. I told him this hundreds of times!
Understatement is a trope aimed at deliberate belittling
E.g. He had reddish hair
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